Would thinner orange cable be ok? Forums

olley · Campsite DB Admin

The orange or blue cable that most of us use is rated at 16amps and the RCD fitted in your vehicle should be as well, the site feed to your van will be protected by a simular device, so all three elements are protected, their supply, your cable and your van, if you change to a smaller cable you run the risk of overloading your cable possibly causing it to melt.
allot of sites do not supply 16amps, the cable you are talking about is rated at 6amps i believe, so if you only connect to a 6amp supply you will be fine, as their fuse will trip if you try to draw more. what ever cable you use it must be three core.
only thermal heating is a problem on coiled cables and for that they need to be close to their design capacity, as most people are unaware of the loading they are placing upon their cable its a good idea to unwind it, induction heating is a myth and does not occur, also voltage drops over 50 or 100 metres are insignificant.

olley

2point

I wouldn't risk mine and others safety for the sake of vanity I can understand the space issue, but it's only space whilst in transit.

A few years ago I plugged a tumble dryer in using an extension reel, when I came to use the reel again I founf that the cable has fused itself together due to heat build up. A very close call.

BarryandSue

Quite a few years ago, when I first heard the warning about our cables remaining coiled, I did a test. I ran a 2kw fan heater in the van for just over an hour, with our proper orange hook-up cable coiled on the reel. There was no discernible rise in temperature. Try it yourself. After about 5 minutes I worried, and tested it, then left it a bit longer, and so on.

However, on another occasion I did the same in the loft, using an ordinary diy extension lead to power my lead light and the fan heater (can't remember the setting; 1kw or 2kw) and I was horrified when I discovered the cable was hot - almost too hot to hold!

My conclusion is, therefore, that on hook-ups, using the proper cable and no more than 2kw, is not a problem if the proper cable remains coiled. If you make a mistake, though, I'm convinced cable can catch fire.

General advice: always uncoil a hose fully unless you know it's safe.

GeorgeTelford

Hi Olley

You think that the coiled cable will be protected by the MCB's in reality it will not, heres why.

Think of the old fashioned fires, coils of diochromic wire which got hot due to resistance did this blow a fuse or mcb? no you can create a lot of heat well before 16 Amps is reached, also a 16 AMP MCB can require 5 times more ampage to trip than its rating, read

johnsandywhite

Just a point. Every Reel of Cable Cable I have bought has had a Coiled rating and an Un-Coiled rating. Rolling Eyes

olley · Campsite DB Admin

Hi George when i went college (we where still using quills then) i was taught that fuse wire melted at approx twice its rated ampage, but an MCB trips at just over its rating.

olley

GeorgeTelford

Hi Olley

PamNPete

Yes George I HAVE seen the results of cabls overheating

i used to 'demonstrate' the effects of a 13A fues protecting items rated at 5A, or wired with 3A cables
To welding students

My cable isnt wound onto a drum, ut when fully coiled up it har 25 x 1metre turns Also ti is a 16 A cable.

the only time I have felt it warm was on our last trip.
it got warm laying in the sun when the only current being drawn was to run the fridge and a 2A fan
Otherwise running heating fan, immersion heater, kettle, and hot plate (total 15A) there was no change in temp

Electric light bulbe etc are designed to draw sufficient current to make them hot

I am now retired from teaching electrical engineering and have given away all my reference books with the resistance of cables, but they are much lower than the resistance of you examples
BA(Hons), HND, Full Tech Cert, CGLI Adv, Apprentice Trained Instrument Technician

GeorgeTelford

Hi Pete

I know they are lower resistance (and Impedance) but they are to demonstrate the basic principle. Coil wire and you get heat. Place a solid steel bar between + and - on a battery bang and melted bar, connect a thin curly wire between + and - and you get heat and light, same basic principles.

By some strange coincidence, I visited another business today and a worker there was running a welder through a coiled up extension cable with Inevitable results, I have asked the chap to keep the extension till I call by tommorow to photograph it.

J&S also points out that some ext cables have wound and Unwound ratings all based on the same principles.